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The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), has released the preliminary report on the recently collapsed building at Ajegunle, Apapa , Lagos.

According to the agency, upon arrival of its response team at the scene, it was observed that a three-storey building with a penthouse undergoing manual demolition was found to have collapsed trapping some workers under the rubbles.

LASEMA gathered from community members that the building was undergoing a manual demolition before it collapsed, trapping the workers on site.

The building located at 28, Baale Alayabiagba Street, Alayabiagba Community, Ajegunle, Apapa, Lagos, was said to have collapsed on the October 30, 2025, at 11:09am. Eight adult males were said to have been rescued alive while an adult male was recovered dead from the rubble of the collapsed building.

According to the Permanent Secretary, LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke -Osanyintolu, the rescued injured victims were given first aid immediately by LASAMBUS and subsequently transported to Ajeromi General Hospital.

‘LASEMA team, alongside all other responders embarked on coordinated search of the incident scene, to ensure prompt rescue of victims trapped under the collapsed building.

I had the privilege of witnessing the Ekiti APC governorship consensus ratification on October 27, 2025. At this event, 885 delegates endorsed Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, aka BAO, as the consensus candidate for the June 20, 2026 governorship election.

On Tuesday, October 28, 2025, I also joined the governor’s entourage to the commissioning of the reconstructed Itawure-Okemesi-Ekiti Road, the lighting of Okemesi-Ekiti, and the reopening of the equipped General Hospital in Okemesi-Ekiti.

Reflecting on these events, I’m led to ask: Was the outpouring of support for the governor genuine, or a carefully crafted display? Did the crowds that lined the streets, chanting ‘BAO’, act of their own accord, or were their voices procured? These questions linger, even as they invite us to ponder the complex interplay between power, perception, and reality.

Unarguably, Oyebanji’s achievements speak for themselves, and the people’s happiness is evident in their enthusiastic response. This contradicts opposition claims and highlights the dynamic relationship between leadership and public perception.

With politics also in a state of flux in the State of Osun, it is now compelling to put the beamlight on the state of play in a highly sophisticated swing state.

Bola Oyebamiji! Akin Ogunbiyi! Dotun Babayemi! Benedict Alabi! Iyiola Omisore! Kunle Adegoke! And other APC governorship aspirants! Osun State, stretching back in time, has always been electorally competitive. It is not a state to be taken for granted, and upsets can never be ruled out. With an off-season governorship election scheduled for August 8, 2026, political activities will intensify, oftentimes with maneuvers that will defy logic.

Surely certainly, all eyes will be on Ekiti and Osun States, as the twists and turns of the political drama will be more than worth watching for pundits, analysts, and anyone who appreciates political theatre.

As the days go by, we will focus on the personalities, the trends, the currents and anticipate tales of the unexpected.

It will be a treat!

May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

In a powerful demonstration of collective commitment, six Rotary clubs from Zone 4 of District 9111 Nigeria-Rotary Club of Ota, Alakuko, Ijoko Premier, Ijoko, Iyana Iyesi Ota and Agbara-convened for a 3km awareness walk on October 25, 2025, to mark World Polio Day.

Under the leadership of their respective presidents and with the distinguished presence of Immediate Past District Governor (IPDG) Oluwole Kukoyi, the event drew hundreds of members, bystanders, parents, and market women to advocate for polio vaccination awareness and reinforce Africa’s polio-free status.

Participants distributed educational flyers and paused at strategic intervals to engage bystanders with sensitization efforts, spotlighting Rotary International’s ongoing global campaign to eradicate polio, a disease now limited to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The initiative, themed, ‘End Polio Now,’ featured inspiring remarks from the club presidents. Rotarian Charles Umukoro, President of Rotary Club of Ota, underscored the organization’s dedication, stating, ‘This walk reaffirms our commitment to a polio-free world. Africa’s success is Rotary’s triumph; let us vaccinate every child to sustain this achievement.’

In a major push to equip young Nigerians with future-ready creative skills, O2 Academy Lagos has partnered with the Federal Ministry of Education under the Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS-TVET) programme, powered by the World Bank, to train youths in AI Filmmaking and Mobile Content Creation.

The initiative, officially flagged off at O2 Academy Lagos, Ojota, marks a landmark moment for Nigeria’s creative and film industry, introducing artificial intelligence to the core of content production and storytelling.

For O2 Academy, the training represents more than just a classroom initiative. It is a bridge between traditional filmmaking and emerging technology.

Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, on Friday led a powerful coalition of All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in formally endorsing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for re-election in 2027.

The endorsement, which took place in Edo Central, brought together key political figures including the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Dennis Idahosa, Senator Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole and the Minister for Regional Development, Hon. Abubakar Momoh, among others.

The event also featured the official reception of prominent decampees from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) into the APC, signaling a renewed sense of unity and momentum within the ruling party ahead of the next general elections.

Among other dignitaries present were the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Blessing Agbebaku; former Deputy Governor, Chief Pius Odubu; Senator Mathew Urhoghide; Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu; APC State Chairman, Emperor Jarret Tenebe; and Retired General Cecil Isegaigbe, Edo Central senatorial leader.

Governor Okpebholo, while addressing party faithful, expressed profound gratitude to President Tinubu for his continued support to Edo people, particularly in infrastructure development.

Okpebholo said: ‘I want to thank Mr. President for what he’s doing for the Edo people. We will let him know that we are here for him completely.’

‘When I went to Abuja to discuss the road infrastructural challenge. The Minister of Works came down to inspect it. Now, the Agbor road among other projects have been approved, and in a few weeks, you’ll see caterpillars working on this Agbor road. The President is not coming here to campaign because we have already done the campaign.’

Godswill Akpabio and Professor Nentawe Yilwatda recently stirred the hornets’ nest. The public was held in awe by the bluntness of their uttered words against the slow pace of effective governance at the subnational levels across the country.

By virtue of their vantage positions, no one should doubt the veracity of their revelations. What makes their spills startling is that most of those that were affected and exposed at the subnational levels were elected governors cum councils’ chairmen from same political party with them-be they old, new or aspiring defectors.

Akpabio and Yilwatda are not just ordinary Nigerians; one is the all powerful number three political figure anchoring the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly in the country; the other is the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC).

Yilwatda’s party, in case of temporary amnesia by anyone, has become, for good or bad, the beautiful bride being courted by governors of states in Nigeria today as witnessed in the ongoing gale of defections. This development is reminiscent of the historical jostle for the partitioning of Africa by the European colonial powers. That is what APC has become in modern day politics of the country.

Pardon my temporary digression. The missiles fired by these two men should bother the privileged people in power that they were directed at. This is so if only for exposing the governors/chairmen’s mostly shambolic performances at states and local levels; and more importantly for the inciting weight of such observations by these two political leaders.

Yours sincerely is grappling with how best to fathom these two important men’s damning call-out of governors and councils’ chairmen largely believed to be members of their political party. They didn’t just say these but beckoned on their people to monitor and teach them consequential lessons where necessary.

Obviously, the governed, especially across the states and local council areas are displeased with the lackadaisical approach of their governors and councils’ chairmen in handling their infrastructural, institutional, and general wellbeing. Therefore, the timely reminders by these two significant figures in the nation’s body politic can’t just be waived aside.

The duo’s challenge that the state governors and local councils’ chairmen be held accountable for the rot in the states, despite increased revenue allocations under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration should not be taken with levity. Their words only bring to the fore, the silent truths that sub-national governments across the country are mostly known to have failed to translate recent higher statutory allocations into improved livelihoods, job creation and above all, tangible development.

Kindly permit a scrutiny of what the duo said. For instance, Professor Yilwatda at the public presentation of a book titled: ‘Vicious Red Circle’ authored by Alex Oriaku, enjoins Nigerians to demand people-oriented projects from their governors and local councils’ chairmen in view of the huge fiscal inflows currently accruing to the states/councils.

‘No governor in Nigeria collects less than three times, up to four times what they used to collect before – none. Who knows that two years ago, there was a sharing of about N400bn per month-but today, the last sharing they did was N2.2tn…I would say, talk to your governors. Talk to your local government chairmen. Let them do more.’

Good talk from Yilwatda but the national APC chairman seems to have discounted the fact that most of these governors and chairmen are deaf to reason and good judgment. They’re only aggressively agile on how to steal public funds, conceive defective policies and implement sub-standard and inflated projects. Of course, the governors and councils’ chairmen, with the current allocation largesse, are not letting their constituents feel the realistic and positive impacts of good governance.

To curb their excesses, Yilwatda as the national chairman of ruling APC has a critical role to play in ensuring that the right persons are allowed to emerge as candidates of his party in the upcoming general elections. This is the right template and the first step to take in ensuring transparency and accountability in governance of this era when the booming allocations do not positively reflect in the lives of ordinary citizens but more in the profligacy of public officers.

Most governors and chairmen who are misleading their people today and giving the federal government of President Tinubu bad name are products of misplaced political priorities by political parties. They see governance as business endeavours and not any conscientiously selfless service to the people.

Also, Yilwatda needs to drum into the ears of his party candidates at the subnational levels, the significance of having dedicated cardinal programmes from their party manifesto; and the need for uniform implementation across subnational levels. So far, virtually all the governors/chairmen don’t seem to know what the manifesto of their political party talks about. There’s no actual particular roadmaps in practice. They only do things that appear to them in their dreams while sleeping. This is responsible for the uncoordinated policies, planning and projects that reasonable Nigerians complain about in the life of this country.

The foregoing is not applicable to APC alone but to other political parties. Most elected officials on the platforms of all these political parties in the country know nothing about the cardinal programmes of their parties but are only interested in sustaining power and making money through whatever means from government. I recommend for Yilwatda, the late Pa Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) manifesto template to make his tenure more people-friendly and a politically correct system that his party can effectively monitor.

Except this existing detrimental system is corrected by Yilwatda, it might be difficult to envision any meaningful use of public funds at the subnational levels, especially.

Akpabio, on his part, also spoke candidly at the joint graduation ceremony of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) and the University of Benin. In clear language, he called on State Houses of Assembly to hold governors accountable for how they deployed their increased allocations.

Akpabio emphasises the need to ‘strengthen existing legal frameworks’ necessary for the enhancement of ‘oversight responsibilities of public institutions to ensure that they deliver effective public service.’

Akpabio did not forget to self-commend the 10th National Assembly that he’s leading for having ‘contributed tremendously to increasing the revenue that accrues to the Consolidated Revenue Fund’ which in turn has led to ‘higher revenue allocation to states and the federal government.’ His clincher saw him beckon on the ‘state legislatures to ensure that the increased revenue to their governors/states translates to improved livelihood and job creation for citizens.’

Yilwatda, with his executive experience, calls for people’s vigilance over how governors spend their money while Akpabio, as a lawmaker and a former governor/minister, beckons on states’ legislatures to meticulously interrogate how the current increased allocations are being spent at the subnational levels.

Let it be known to Akpabio that one major problem draining the country of desired revenues is budget padding and projects’ costs inflation. Through these avenues, the country may not be able to effectively stem the tide of official corruption. While demanding funds accountability from the governors and councils’ chairmen, Akpabio should also quickly address these conduit pipes in public tills. Most legislators, unfortunately, live large from illegal proceeds of budget padding, inflation of projects’ costs and compromise in the discharge of their oversight responsibilities with a telling effect on the nation’s socio-economic development. Akpabio as senate-president, needs to do something to curb this legislative criminality.

In totality, the foregoing are largely responsible for the abysmal governance styles of governors/council chairmen in most states across the federation. And notwithstanding the excuses of Naira devaluation and accompanying inflation, governors’ preference for elephant projects which they financed with ill-advised foreign loans coupled with wanton corruption have denied the people the opportunity of having friendly, and beneficial policies/projects. These amongst others further throw the people into abject poverty and penury.

The final message: Eternal vigilance and effectively uncompromising regulatory systems are necessary tools to whip to line errant governors and councils’ chairmen seeing increased monthly allocations as largesse to be wasted. No more, no less!

Oyo APC governorship aspirant and Baàm?`k?´ of Ibadanland, Oloye Saheed Oladele, has declared that Nigerian youths are supposed to be today’s leaders.

Oladele made the remark during a Meet and Greet session held in his honour at Barcelona Hotel, Wuse 2, Abuja.

The event served as an interactive platform to discuss good governance and youth participation in politics.

He emphasised that young Nigerians must rise to become agents of positive change by contesting for various elective positions in the 2027 general elections, stressing that the long-held narrative describing youths as future leaders is misleading.

‘The idea that youths are leaders of tomorrow is a scam,’ he said, urging young people to take charge of leadership roles now rather than wait for the future.

Also speaking at the event, the Abuja coordinator of the Saheed Oladele Support Foundation, Shams Olatunbosun, called on Oyo youths to support Oladele’s ambition to govern Oyo State in 2027, describing him as a champion of good governance and accountability.

He reiterated that it is the turn of youths to be in the saddle of governance as the youths should see Baàm?`k?´’s aspiration as a collective aspiration.

A consultant ENT surgeon with the State House Clinic, Abuja, Dr Shareefah Bolanle Hassan, narrated how she met Baàm?`k?´ inside a plane on his way to the holy land in 2021.

She said she was indisposed inside the plane and Baàm?`k?´ exchanged his more comfortable seat with hers.

She stated that such a commendable gesture is the hallmark of a compassionate leader, and it was the reason she felt compelled to attend the Meet and Greet.

The event was well attended by a cross section of Nigerians and some dignitaries, including a wife of late chief MKO Abiola, Mrs Hadiza Abiola.

How do you feel clocking the rare age of 100 years?

I thank God for His grace, which has enabled me to be 100 years old and for my life. I give praise to Jesus. It has been a long journey in life.

Considering that formal education was not fashionable at the time you were born, how did you manage to go to school?

I lived with my maternal grandmother. My dad was a farmer, and he did not send any of his children to school. However, my maternal grandmother wanted me to have a formal education. I was therefore taken from Abeokuta to Imeko in 1935. That was where I started formal education.

It is also important to mention that it was a white man who did the confirmation for me, which is why I have Victoria as part of my name.

Was it at Imeko that you completed your education?

From Imeko, we returned to Osogbo, where I continued with my education. I still remember vividly that our school fees were about twelve and a half kobo.

After a while, I told my mum that I was not ready to continue with my education because of the ordeal I was facing with paying the school fees. My mum kicked, but I opted to learn sewing.

Fortunately for me, my maternal grandmother’s brother was in Ibadan, where I stayed and learnt how to make dresses. I thank God that He blessed this sewing business.

I later got married in 1949. Not long after, my husband was transferred to Ilorin, and we later returned to Lagos. God answered my prayer, and in 1949, I had my first child.

After the first child, I had a delay. I tried to have another child, but it was a bit difficult. I was so desperate to the extent that any time I saw a woman who had just given birth, I would say, ‘loan me your husband for me to have a child too,’ and everybody would laugh. The delay in not having another child after the first one was causing me so much grief.

After waiting for about 13 years, God answered my prayer and I had a baby girl

In fact, when I got pregnant I didn’t even know. I remember that I went to Sapele to meet a family member. There, I couldn’t eat; I was just vomiting. I suspected that I was pregnant, and it was later confirmed that I was pregnant.

What were the things on your mind during the waiting period?

I was always telling God the kind of child I wanted. I specifically asked God to give me a female child who would be kind and would not disgrace me. I enjoyed good treatment during that pregnancy. A doctor was detailed to look after me where my husband was. Another doctor was engaged in Lagos to look after me until I was put to bed.

You just said that God blessed your sewing business.

Yes, I was doing well in my sewing business. Although I was staying in Mushin, Lagos, people on the Lagos Island knew me. I would go from Mushin to Tom Jones, Lagos Island, and to sew for people. It was there I came in contact with many people. Ileya Festival was always a boom period for me.

I think the secret behind this was the fact that I was honest with my clients. I never cheated any of them, and I would never keep part of their clothes. I always remembered what my boss told me as an apprentice. She said we should not take what was not ours. So, when I started my own business, it was my principle, and all my clients knew this.

Secondly, I love to work. I hate staying idle. It wasn’t only sewing that I was doing; I was into other businesses too. I was into building and supplying building materials. I was a contractor at Ikeja Police College when it was about to start. The name of my business then was Victoria Building Contractor. I was a supplier there, supplying them with quality materials.

Even the people I was buying things from knew I would not take anything inferior. My policy was that dirty or cursed money was no money. I was only interested in clean business. I never knew that some of the policemen were watching me and monitoring what I was doing. Although I was involved in other businesses which God really blessed, I also sold clothing materials.

I just love to work; I can’t sit idle. I also sold food in this house. Many lawyers were coming here to eat. It was a business that fetched me so much money, too. I love to work; my paternal and maternal families believe in hard work, and that was what I imbibed.

What did you do with the proceeds of your business?

Ah, you know I told you earlier how I encouraged my husband to build his personal house and his reluctance. When he was delaying, I just took one of his brothers to his land. I did a foundation for him, we started, and we were paying block makers whatever we had.

It was one of the visits to the person who sold the land to my husband that I expressed my interest in buying land, too. He initially refused to sell land to me because he felt I should have got married to either Egba or Oyo instead of an Ekiti man (laughs).

Unknown to me, the owner of the piece of land was my father’s friend. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the land had been sold. But as God would have it, the people at the town planning said there was a piece of land in another place belonging to the same man. But it was small. I had to run back to Abeokuta, and he confirmed what they told me in Lagos. I insisted that, irrespective of the size, I would buy it. He said he would have given me the land free of charge, but said again that because I married an Ekiti man, he would not do so. He eventually sold the land to me. That is where I am living today, in the heart of Ikeja.

You were married to a polygamist. What was your experience?

I was the fourth wife. Except you were told, it would be difficult for anyone to know that we were married to the same man. Anytime I went to Abeokuta, I would buy food and other things, I would cook, and all of us would sit down and eat. Most of our neighbours thought we rented the house, not knowing we were the wives of the owner of the house. The feeling then was that we were just friends. Till all the other wives died, we never quarrelled.

How did you manage to live without having issues with your husband’s other wives?

(Prolonged laughter) I remember telling my husband not to keep concubines. If he found any woman who caught his fancy, he should bring the person home and marry her. Then, we were told that women were killing men in Lagos.

I’m amazed at the way you remember things and events. You are still looking strong, and your voice is like that of a teenager. What is the secret?

I will attribute these to God. He gave me the power. Also, it was the kind of upbringing that I had. Every Sunday, after returning from church, we would go in and start reading the Bible. That too must have contributed to it. For example, we never joked with pap. I used to feel sad then if I did not drink pap and senke.

How would you compare the Lagos of today with the one you grew up in?

Things have really changed. There was no traffic jam or noise then. There was no kidnapping. The Lagos of then was stress-free.

If you look at your 100 years on earth, what would you say gave you the greatest joy, and what made you saddest?

There was a day I was taking my daughter to school together with one of my younger ones’ children, with my driver. We had an accident, and I was just shouting Jesus! Jesus! It was a sad experience. My most joyous moment was when I was in labour and the doctor told me that the baby was breech. Fortunately, the doctor’s mum was around. When she heard what happened, she plucked vegetable leaves in the hospital and told me to start chewing the vegetables raw. I gave birth to the baby safely.

The greatest joy was when I realised that it was a baby girl. I asked God for a baby girl, and He hearkened to my request. They told me not to stand up from the bed. I was just shouting I thank you, Jesus, I thank you, Jesus. They all rejoiced.

How were you treated by your in-laws during your waiting period, I mean, before the second child came?

Not bad, I was just telling God that I never asked him for a delay.

At a point, you went to Jerusalem.

Yes, I had been to Austria before then. My trip to Jerusalem was not planned. I used to have a friend, but she is late now. My wrapper used to be a flowing one touching the floor, because of that, many of them used to call me alhaja. I would tell her I’m not an alhaja. In one of those days when I returned to Nigeria from a business trip to Austria, she said she had submitted my name among those who would go to Jerusalem. We eventually went.

In Jerusalem, I started praying. My friend reminded me that it was good to speak positively; that it was almost 30 years since I said I was not an alhaja but alhaja of Jerusalem, and that God had answered my prayer, which I had eventually become alhaja of Jerusalem. I then thanked God.

In Jerusalem, I requested God. before I left Nigeria; I was selling food and alcoholic drinks. I said that if I returned to Nigeria, I would not sell alcoholic drinks again because I did not want my child to be drinking alcohol; therefore, I would not sell alcoholic drinks to the children of other people.

When I returned, I stopped selling drinks. The girl working with me asked why. I said nothing. I sold all the crates and started dealing in Coca-Cola drinks and Vitamalt.

Would you advise a woman to marry into a polygamous home or a man to practice polygamy?

I don’t want it. I don’t support it because of the challenges involved. I don’t pray for any of my family members to have more than one wife, because they won’t have a restful mind. The people of those days knew how to manage polygamy, but this generation is incapable.

What would you tell the newlyweds?

A woman needs a lot of patience. I would advise women to take good care of their husbands.

Unfortunately, wives nowadays prefer takeaway and fast food for their husbands. Some go as far as contracting their stew out. They don’t do all those things that matter for their husbands. They don’t know how to cook. I pray that God will give them the wisdom and the skills to do the right things for their husbands.

The most important thing is for the woman to be patient. We know that both of them come from different backgrounds, but patience is the key. Women have to be submissive.

One of University of Calabar (UNICAL’s) professors, Offiong Effanga Offiong has emerged as the substantive Vice Chancellor designate of the University.

Interviews for the position of the next Vice Chancellor have been ongoing the last 24 hours.

However, The Nation can confirm that, the institutions’ 14th Governing Council just confirmed the appointment of Prof. Offiong as the 12th VC of UNICAL.

The acrid smell of burnt rubber and charred bodies still lingers over the scorched stretch of the Bida-Badegi-Agaie Road; a grim testament to yet another preventable catastrophe in Niger State’s long history of tanker explosions.

The sequence of events on the afternoon of October 21 was eerily predictable. The tanker, reportedly en route from Lagos to the North, lost control on the dilapidated road, overturning and spilling its volatile cargo. Eyewitnesses described a chaotic scene, ignoring frantic warnings of people.

What followed was not just an accident, but a human tragedy amplified by desperation: residents, villagers armed with jerry cans, buckets, and even plastic bags swarmed the site, drawn like moths to a flame, and rushed to scoop the spilling fuel.

‘They were shouting, ‘God has provided!’ as they filled their containers,’ recounted Musa Ibrahim, a survivor who lost his brother in the blaze.

Minutes later, a spark ignited the fuel vapors, turning the roadside into a fireball that engulfed people, motorcycles and livestock, claiming about 45 lives and injuring over 60 others, according to updates from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

The victims, mostly youths from nearby communities, were not passive bystanders as they became active participants in their own demise.

It was gathered that a tanker filled with groundnut oil had fallen along the same spot two days before and the residents of the community counted their luck as they proceeded on scooping the oil to their various residences.

Several of the victims who were injured and were receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre in Bida were not willing to talk about the incident when the health team delegated by the state government visited them.

One of them, Mohammed Dauda, who secured burns in his legs and was still in pains, explained that he thought it was another tanker that was transporting groundnut oil that had fallen, stressing that if he had known that it was a fuel tanker, he would not have approached it.

Dauda stated that he did not scoop any fuel but was among those telling people to stop scooping the fuel. He explained that the explosion was caused when a man tried to use his lighter and in the struggle to take the lighter from him, he threw the lighter in the fuel which ignited, causing the fire.

He said: ‘What happened was a misfortune. A tanker crashed and we went there. But what we first heard was that it was a tanker transporting groundnut oil. If I knew it was fuel, I wouldn’t go.

‘When we got there and discovered that it was petrol, I was one of the people who kept telling those that went to scoop the fuel that it was not advisable to do so. I told them to use plastic containers instead.

‘I was still saying that when

I noticed a Hausa man standing there trying to use a lighter. A lot of people started struggling with him. He threw the lighter and the tanker caught fire.

‘I only heard the sound of the explosion and the fire threw me across the road. My leg caught fire in the process.

‘The same thing happened with this person close to me. There are also three other children. There were more than 30 others who died around me that day.

‘I recently confirmed that the number has scaled up to 40, five people from a village near ours.

‘This is my first time going to an accident scene to scoop fuel.’

This incident, the latest in a string of similar disasters in Niger State, underscores a harsh reality: these explosions are not inevitable acts of fate, but often self-inflicted wounds.

If the crowds had resisted the temptation to harvest free fuel from the overturned vehicle, there might have been no explosion at all.

As one elder in Esa community who gave his name as Ndagi Mohammed put it during the somber mass burial the following day, ‘the tanker fell, but it was their greed that lit the match. If no one was there when it exploded, no one would have died.’

Yet, as Nigeria grapples with soaring fuel prices and economic hardship, such rational pleas fall on deaf ears.

Among the deceased were entire families, including eight relatives from one household, as shared in a heart-rending account by a grieving survivor.

A community leader in Essa, Muhammad Kudu, disclosed that they tried to stop the people from going to scoop the fuel but all restriction calls fell on deaf ears.

‘Because the road is bad, accidents always happen. Tankers and trailers always fall, and whenever they do, you see people rushing out to take what they can. No matter how hard you try to stop them, they pay no heed,’ Kudu said.

The Village Head of Essa, Alhaji Adamu Bagudu, said his younger brother lost his two wives and two children in the tragedy, adding that at his residence, 24 of the victims were given a mass burial, while four others who died at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Bida, were buried penultimate Wednesday.

He disclosed that more than 90 per cent of the victims were women, adding that some travellers were also caught in the inferno.

‘Of these, 24 were women while the remaining four were made up of two men and two children. Some of the victims were travellers, including two people on a motorcycle.

‘Others were returning from their farms and had nothing to do with scooping fuel.

‘I have been sensitising and educating my people about the dangers of scooping fuel for the past three years.

‘I have cited several examples, including the one that happened in Dikko. Even the DPO of Katcha Police Division is aware of my efforts to discourage this dangerous habit.’

He recalled that on September 9, 2024, a similar tanker explosion occurred just a few kilometres from the village, killing 61 people, 54 cows and 17 goats, and burning seven motorcycles.

‘I even invited some residents to the scene so they could see the devastation firsthand and warn others,’ he added.

Speaking on the exexplosion, which occurred penultimate Tuesday, the village head said he believed the tragedy would serve as a lasting warning to the people in the community.

Bagudu appealed to the federal government to urgently reconstruct the Agaie-Bida Road to prevent further loss of lives and property.

The Niger State Government swiftly organised a mass burial and pledged free medical treatment for the survivors, led by a team under Dr. Murtala Muhammad Bagana after he had directed that all the injured should be transferred to Gwagalada Specialist Hospital, Abuja for intensive care.

When the Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, personally visited the community, he frowned at the attitude of people rushing to scoop content from a fallen tanker, saying that the government would not condone such acts anymore.

‘We came here to commiserate with them over the loss of lives and to also talk to their conscience.

‘It is a terrible thing that a truck will fall and the people of the community will carry containers to scoop.

‘It is theft and must be addressed as such, and we can’t condone or encourage it,’ he stressed.

He acknowledged that the roads are bad, but stated that people should not see it as an opportunity to do wrong. Rather, when a truck or trailer falls, they should make efforts to rescue the driver and other passengers.

Commiserating with the people over the loss of their loved ones and the quick recovery of the injured, the governor announced a donation of N1 million to families of each of the deceased victims and N500,000 to each of the injured victims receiving treatment.

Chairman of Katcha Local Government Council, Zubairu Mohammed Essa, described the assistance the state government has been rendering to victims of the disaster as tremendous, especially the free medical services, adding that the people of Katcha remain very grateful for the gesture.

But this is no isolated event.

Niger State, a key transit hub for fuel tankers plying the North-Central corridor, has become synonymous with such infernos. Earlier this year, in January 2025, another tanker explosion occurred at Dikko Junction which claimed lives, with bad roads cited as the primary culprit while in September 2024, another tanker explosion occurred just a few kilometres from the village, killing 61 people, 54 cows, 17 goats, and burning seven motorcycles.

Over the years, similar incidents have dotted the state’s highways, from the Minna-Suleja Road to the Lapai axis, often following the same script: a vehicle mishap, spilled fuel, opportunistic scavenging, and then, boom.

A report from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) highlights that Nigeria records dozens of tanker accidents annually, many escalating into explosions due to human intervention.

Critics, including members of the House of Representatives, have lambasted the federal government for the ‘deplorable conditions’ of roads like the Bida-Agaie-Lapai-Lambata highway, arguing that poor infrastructure sets the stage for these disasters.

Residents echo this, blaming potholes and narrow lanes for the initial overturns. Yet, as valid as these grievances are, they sidestep a crucial truth: the tanker might overturn, but without the crowds descending to siphon fuel, the risk of explosion plummets. Fuel tankers are designed with safety valves and compartments to contain spills; it is the tampering and proximity of people that turns a spill into a slaughter.

Victims as culprits: A controversial lens

In the aftermath, a chorus of voices, from government officials to social media commentators, has zeroed in on this victim-blaming narrative, albeit with varying degrees of sensitivity. Lanre Issa-Onilu, Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), minced no words: the explosion stemmed not from ignorance but from a ‘failure of community leadership and a breakdown of societal values.’

He argued that locals know the dangers but chose to ignore them, driven by poverty and a culture of opportunism.

On social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the conversation is raw and unfiltered. User @usmanlade shared a video of the chaos, lamenting, ‘We should always prioritise our safety over risking our precious lives in exchange for ‘dangerous gains.’

Another post from @ppjkis warned, ‘As soon as one crashes, they are overwhelmed with locals trying to get free fuel. But they are time bombs waiting to explode. It is best to stay far away.’

These sentiments resonate with a broader online consensus: poverty fuels recklessness, but personal responsibility is key.

Experts concur. In a Conversation Africa article, analysts noted that fuel tanker accidents are preventable through ‘restructuring the built environment, providing parking spaces for tankers,’ and stricter enforcement. But they also stress public education: campaigns warning against scooping fuel have been ongoing, yet ineffective amid economic woes. Fuel prices have skyrocketed post-subsidy removal, making spilled petrol a literal goldmine for the impoverished.

A state plagued by flames

Niger State’s tanker woes are emblematic of Nigeria’s broader petroleum transport crisis. With over 5,000 tankers on roads daily, accidents are rampant, FRSC data shows hundreds yearly, many in transit states like Niger.

Past explosions include the 2018 Odukpani incident in Cross River (12 dead) and the 2020 Kogi blast (23 dead), but Niger’s frequency stands out due to its highways’ poor state.

A YouTube analysis titled ‘How To Avert Incessant Tanker Explosion In Nigeria’ called for better driver training and vehicle maintenance, but again, emphasised avoiding spill sites.

Global Rights, an advocacy group, condemned the latest blast, urging ‘immediate preventive action’ like road repairs and community sensitization.

On Facebook, a post from Prevention of Fuel Tanker Explosions in Nigeria referenced President Bola Tinubu’s directive for traffic rule enforcement to curb such incidents. Yet, enforcement remains weak; tankers often overload or speed, but the real escalation happens post-accident.

Breaking the cycle: A call to action

As Niger State buries its dead, the question looms: how many more must perish before change? The victims’ role in these tragedies is undeniable, scooping fuel is not survival, but suicide. Yet, blaming them alone ignores the poverty trap set by failed policies.

True mitigation demands a multi-pronged assault: fix the roads, enforce regulations, educate communities, and diversify transport.

Nigeria’s highways should be lifelines, not death traps. Until citizens and leaders alike prioritise safety over shortcuts, the flames will keep claiming lives.